The East Monkton Church Association and the Russell Memorial Library are collaborating to sponsor Vermont Reads 2019. The Vermont Humanities Council 2019 selection is the graphic novel March: Book One written by civil rights icon John Lewis. John Lewis was chairman of the Students Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and was one of the "Big Six" leaders of the civil rights movement. He has served in the US Congress since 1987 and was awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Obama in 2011. Copies of the book are available for loan at the Russell Memorial Library during regular patron hours.

An event for this year's Vermont Reads will be the showing of "Rise!", episode five of "The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross". Written and presented by Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., director of W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard University, the episode highlights the historic events of African-American people from 1940-1968. The film will be shown on July 26th at 7:00 pm at the East Monkton Church, 405 Church Road. Contact Candace (453-7575) or (candace.polzella@UVM.edu) for additional information.

Feb 1, 2025, 5 to 7 PM

Feb 2, 2025, 4:30 to 5:30 PM

Feb 3, 2025, 6 to 9 PM